Tubular bandage and material therefor

ABSTRACT

1,133,202. Bandage. SCHOLL MFG. CO. Ltd. 8 Nov., 1965 [9 Nov., 1964], No. 47264/65. Heading A5R. [Also in Division D1] A bandage comprises a tubular fabric knitted of threads which are substantially inextensible and having spandex threads inlaid in the fabric, 20-50% of the total number of threads being spandex threads. The substantially inextensible threads may be of cotton, wool or nylon. The bandage may be adapted for application to a finger or leg. The term &#39;thread&#39; is used to include within its meaning the terms &#39;fibre&#39; and &#39;yarn&#39;. As shown in Fig. 3, the spandex threads 12 are inlaid with respect to the inextensible threads 11.

Feb. 28, 1967 B. ROSENFIELD 3,306,288

TUBULARv BANDAGE AND MATERIAL THEREFOR Filed Nov. -9, 1964 (/m ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,306,288 TUBULAR BANDAGE AND MATERIAL THEREFOR Benjamin Rosenfeld, Rego Park, N.Y., assignor to The Scholl Mfg. Co., Inc., Chicago, Ill., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 409,769 3 Claims. (Cl. 12S-157) This invention relates to a tubular bandage and material therefor, and more particularly to a tubular bandage highly desirable for application to the human body and which may be readily applied to a digit, limb, head, and by proper manipulation to the breast and torso of a body, the bandage being made in various lengths and diameters depending upon the region of application, although the invention may have other uses and purposes as will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

In the past, various types of tubular bandages have been made and various types of tubular devices for use in the general nature of bandages but more specifically as knee warmers and the like, but such bandages have been merely cotton gauze knit in tubular form or wool knit in tubular form, as the case may be. In some instances such bandages had rubber strands or the like woven into marginal portions in order to maintain the bandage in proper position on a part of the body, such for example as over the knee or over the calf of the le-g where there is a difference in thickness of the body above and below the portion desired to be covered by the device. However, bandages of this type provided no constrictive force other than the mild recovery power inherent in a stretched knitted fabric. When such formerly known bandages were fmade of cotton gauze or equivalent material, they frequently became overstretched beyond full recovery during application `and therefore did not snugly t the portion of the body covered thereby. In the event such'a bandage tit the portion of the body it covered properly, it was incapable of providing added compressive force against the part of the body covered, in case such was desired or indicated by virtue of some parti-cular afliiction. In some instances tubular stretchable articles such as supportive hoisery or other means to cover the calf of a leg in the case of varicose veins or the like have been developed and made of various materials. In some instances supporting stockings had elastic strands or threads knitted or woven therein but were objectionable in view of the weak breaking strength of such threads, lack of satisfactory retractive force, short flex life, and weak abrasive resistance. Frequently, also, such devices, in `an endeavor to acquire satisfactory compressive force were made heavy and thick, and so were clumsy and unsightly and in many cases women neglected to wear them for that reason and permitted the affliction to aggravate itself.

With the foregoing in mind, it is an important object of the instant invention to provide a new bandage material embodying an elastomer knitted or woven into the material so as to provide considerable breaking strength, great retractive force, excellent abrasive resistance, and long ex life, whereby the material may be readily laundered and repeatedly used if desired without loss of its compressive characteristics.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of a tubular bandage which inherently hugs the portion of the body it covers and -conforms itself intimately to the contour of that body portion regardless of variances in size of the body portion.

Also an object of this invention is the provision of a tubular bandage or the like made of a new material and which is capable of exerting compressive force to a desired extent on the portion of the body it covers, the

3,306,288 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 bandage being more effective and more durable than stretchable material of bandages made heretofore.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a tubular bandage knitted or woven from cotton, nylon, or threads of equivalent material and spandex threads.

While some of the more salient features, characteristics and advantages of the instant invention have been above -pointed out, others will become apparent from the following disclosures, taken in conjunction with the accompanydrawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary pictorial view showing a bandage embodying principles of the instant invention in operative position upon a finger;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary pictorial view illustrating a bandage embodying principles of the instant invention disposed `over a knee joint;

FIGURE 3 is a magnified disclosure of the material from which the bandage is made, showing the same somewhat diagrarnmatically, and in expanded or stretched condition; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary magnified showing of a slightly different form of material in its expanded condition.

As shown on the drawings:

In FIGURE 1 of the drawings I have illustrated the instant invention in the form of a t-ubular bandage a portion of `which is placed over the nger, a twist is made in the bandage, and the other portion retroverted over the first portion. The bandage may be applied with an applicator in the manner set forth in Hendrickson et al. U.S. Letters Patent No. 2,456,507 of December 14, 1948, or the bandage may be originally supplied already twisted, retroverted, and rolled so that it may be merely unrolled over the iinger. This bandage is generally indicated by numeral 1 and shown in operative position on a forenger 2. It will be noted that the bandage ts snugly in the sulcus -of the rst joint of the iinger as indicated at 3, snugly around the larger rear portion of the finger as indicated at 4, and snugly over the smaller distal phalanx as indicated at 5.

In FIGURE 2 I have shown the bandage in the form of a tube as generally indicated by numeral 6, and in this instance the bandage is disposed over a knee joint 7. Here again it will lbe noted that the bandage snugly lfits the upper portion of the calf as shown at 8, snugly ts in the sulcus of the knee joint as indicated at 9, and as well snugly ts over the larger portion of the leg above the knee as shown at 10. This bandage might also be disposed over the calf of the tleg, and will snugly t the calf itself, the portion of lesser size adjacent the knee above the calf,l and the portion of more reduced size below the calf adjacent the ankle.

The bandages of the instant invention are inherently self-conforming to snugly and intimately t variations in size of the portion of the body over which the bandage is disposed.

When the bandage is in the form of a single tube, it may be provided with any suitable form of edging to prevent unraveling at each end thereof. Such is not necessary with a tubular finger bandage or the like as seen in FIGURE l where one portion of the bandage is retroverted over another portion, such bandage usually being performed in a roil or cut from a tubular bandage roll of indefinite length.

The material from which the bandage is made is a fabric which may be woven or knit, 'and by way of example in FIGURE 3 I have illustrated a knit material. The particular stitch utilized is not critical, the stitch may be plain, ribbed, stockinette, jersey as shown, or any other suitable form. One of the threads utilized in the knitting has a minimum of inherent stretch, this larger thread 11, may be cotton, nylon, wool, or any other suitable material depending upon the use to which the bandage is to be put. The other thread which gives the bandage added stretchability and retractive power is a smaller thread 12 made of spandex.

Spandex is a generic name given by a department of the United States Government to a urethane elastomer. Spandex is a synthetic elastomer liber, in which the substance used is a long chain synthetic polymer comprised l of at least 85% of a segmented polyurethane. It m-ay be utilized either as Ia fiber or monolament, as a yarn made up of a number of tine strands or monotilaments, or as a thread formed from a plurality of yarns twisted together. As a consequence, herein where the term thread is utilized it is to be considered synonymous with liber and yarn.

Heretofore, elastic threads and tapes have nearly always been made from pure gum natural rubber, although in some cases a Helanca thread or yarn has been utilized, but that obviously is weaker in stretch and retracting power than the natural rubber. A spandex thread, size for size, has several times the breaking strength of rubber thread, at least twice the retractive force of rubber thread, and is more [resistant to abrasive action and possesses a longer ex life.

For a light gauze finger bandage to cover an injury a thread content of 75%, cotton, nylon, or other material such as the thread 11 and a 25% content of spandex is satisfactory. Where a tubular bandage is utilized on the leg as may be indicated for a swelling, strain, varicose veins, or other injuries `or allictions and greater cornpressive force is desired the spandex content is accordingly increased. Usually a spandex content up to 50% will be satisfactory for all purposes, yand the bandages are made in various diameters for different parts of the body. The stretch of the spandex is limited, lof course, by the maximum stretch provided by the thread 1l of other material, and the stretch of the other material is dependent to some extent upon the material itself as well as upon the looseness or tightness of the knitting.

If compressive force from the bandage is desired only radially, the spandex threads are disposed circumferentially of the bandage at whatever spacing may be desired to obtain the required compressive force for the particular bandage, as shown in FIGURE 3.

However, if desired, the spandex threads may also be incorporated in a direction longitudinally of the bandage as indicated at 12a in FIGURE 4 as well as circumferentially as indicated at 12. This provides a retractive force both longitudinally and radially of the bandage when applied to the body.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that I have provided a new material for a stretchable bandage as well as a bandage made of that material which may provide a greater compressive or retractive force than materials utilized heretofore, which is more resistant to abrasion, which possesses a greater break strength, and which has a longer ex life. The bandage m-ay be laundered and reused if desired, made in different colors, is extremely durable, easily applied, snugly tits the body part which it covers `regardless of varations in size, and may be economically manufactured.

It will [be understood that modifications and variations may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the present invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A tubular fabric bandage having threads running both generally circumferentially and longitudinally of the bandage,

twenty to fifty percent of the threads being spandex and running only circumferentially of the bandage, and

eighty to fifty percent threads having a minimum of inherent stretch running -both circumferentially and longitudinally of the fabric.

2. A tubular fabric bandage having threads running both generally circumferentially and longitudinally of the bandage,

twenty to fifty percent of the threads being spandex running both circumferentially and longitudinally of the bandage, and

eighty to fifty percent threads having a minimum of inherent stretch.

3. A bandage for application over an extremity of the human body and capable of exerting a compressive force thereon, comprising a tubular fabric knitted of threads having a minimum of inherent stretch, and

spandex threads interknitted in the fabric along with certain of the first `said threads to render the fabric `as a whole stretchable, the stretch of the spandex threads being limited by the extent of stretch of the other threads and the tightness of ther knitting.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,646,796 7/1953 Scholl 128-157 2,946,211 7/1960 Morancy 66-202 3,069,883 12/1962 Burleson et al. 66-202 3,069,885 12/1962 Cooper et al 66-202 ADELE M. EAGER, Primary Examiner. 

3. A BANDAGE FOR APPLICATION OVER AN EXTREMITY OF THE HUMAN BODY AND CAPABLE OF EXERTING A COMPRESSIVE FORCE THEREON, COMPRISING A TUBULAR FABRIC KNITTED OF THREADS HAVING AN MINIMUM OF INHERENT STRETCH, AND SPANDEX THREADS INTERKNITTED IN THE FABRIC ALONG WITH CERTAIN OF THE FIRST SAID THREADS TO RENDER THE FABRIC AS A WHOLE STRETCHABLE, THE STRETCH OF THE SPANDEX THREADS BEING LIMITED BY THE EXTENT OF STRETCH OF THE OTHER THREADS AND THE TIGHTNESS OF THE KNITTING. 